Title: Haircut (“High and Tight”) of Boot

General Information about Item:

• Genre and Sub Genre
  • Customary Folklore: Ritual/Rite of Passage

• Language: English

• Country where Item is from: United States

Informant Data:

• Ben is 26 and was born in Connecticut. He currently lives in Hanover, New Hampshire. He was in the Marines until May of 2016 and won a scholarship to come to Dartmouth College. He joined in the military when he was 21 and attended the University of Rhode Island briefly. He wanted to make a change and joined the Marine Corps because he was interested in the infantry growing up and throughout high school. He wanted to join the Marine infantry because it appealed to him the most. He is a Computer Science major and wants to pursue a more normal life after traveling so much the past few years. He has been to the Horn of Africa, Djibouti, Kuwait, Iraq, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Oman, Japan, and Italy.

Contextual Data:

• Social & Cultural Context: This physical haircut of newly joined people in the military, who are known as “boots,” is called a “high and tight.” This distinguishes these people from other officers and soldiers and allow a physical symbolism of this rite of passage in joining the military. This haircut is shared by multiple branches in the military. Along with the title of being a “boot,” this haircut also symbolizes one’s status in the military outwardly.

Item:

• Haircut and Appearance of a Boot (someone who has not gone through their first deployment)

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript of Associated File:

• “Right before your first deployment you shave your head bald or it’s shaved for you. And then after your first deployment, you’re not a boot anymore and you’re treated kind of as an equal I guess. That’s really the main rite of passage. Along with being a boot, I guess boots have, you know, a certain attire for, you know, they always have to have high and tights, or like really short haircuts. You know, a lot of times you can tell who the boots are when you’re out in town because, you know, they’ll have their high and tights and they’ll have their dog tags and they’ll have like military T-shirts on and stuff like that, whereas after your first deployment, I guess a lot of that stuff kind of loses its appeal to you and you kind of want longer hair and you kind of almost try to hide the fact that you’re in the military in a sense.”

Informant’s Comments:

• He thought that this kind of haircut and appearance were passed on to symbolize physically that you have joined the military and actively show that you are at the beginning of a new chapter in your life. He mentions that after you are no longer a boot, you may not want to keep this kind of outward mark of being in the military because of the time they have spent gaining their experiences and want to lead more of a normal life outside their service while out in town or with friends/family.

Collector’s Comments:

• This physical appearance change and haircut also may serve as distinguishing characteristic for the newly joined people in the military from the older, more experienced individuals. This may allow them to be picked out immediately as lower on the social hierarchy in the military, and it also seems to be representative of numerous branches in the military. This kind of haircut also shows to the outside world and civilians that you are a part of the military, in addition to fellow boots and officers.

Collector’s Name: Jenna Shin

Tags/Keywords:

• Rite of passage, customary folklore, tradition, haircut, high and tight